That's absolutely right.........there has got to be a calculated "relative" balance. Make smarter draft pics and their associated contracts, and use the extra money for picking smarter FA signings and their associated contracts. The former makes you less dependent, not independent, on the latter.

Maybe I'm projecting my own thought processes here; but I think Smithiak use F/As for placeholders until they can draft (and develop) guys that they really want.

I think you are right-on. The point isn't to conserve the owner's money. The point is to win games. The Texans had so many holes, they couldn't fill them quickly through the draft. So they needed to dip into the free agent market. Because they didn't have good team, they had to overpay for mediocre talent. Ultimately, they are winning more games, and the roster is getting deeper. Going into last season, the starting line-up was good, but many positions were questionable, and depth was dicey. Going into the 2008 season, the roster is deeper, and ey are still one draft awaythere are fewer questions.

Thanks. It was a good read; confirmed some stuff that had been rolling around in the back of my mind. I thought both Ahman and Flanagan were Sherman's picks as much, if not more, than Kubiak's.

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Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify. ...the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you're actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it.